diffident

缺乏自信的；胆怯的；羞怯的

adjective DIF-uh-dunt

Definition

hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence

犹豫不决的或说话缺乏自信

reserved, unassertive

内向的，谦逊的

archaic : distrustful

古：不信任

Examples

Always diffident and soft-spoken, Tony did not raise any objection when the cashier overcharged him for his purchase.

托尼总是缺乏自信，而且轻声细语，当收银员多收他的钱时，他没有提出任何反对意见。

"His small but indelible role in this melancholy farce didn't even make the trailer, but he's hilarious as the kind but diffident manager of a discount outlet store, especially in a scene where he has to announce the death of a beloved colleague whose name he can't remember." — Chris Hewitt, The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), 20 Jan. 2021

“他在这场忧郁的喜剧中扮演的角色虽小却不可磨灭，甚至连预告片都没有出场，但他作为一家折扣店的经理，和蔼但缺乏自信，尤其是在他不得不宣布一位他不记得名字的敬爱的同事去世的场景中。”

Did You Know?

Diffident and confident are etymologically related antonyms, perched at opposite ends of a scale of self-assurance. Both words trace back to the Latin verb fīdere, which means "to trust." Diffident arose from a combination of fīdere and the prefix dis-, meaning "the absence of"; it has been used to refer to individuals lacking in self-trust since the 15th century. Confident arose from confīdere, a term created by combining fīdere with the intensifying prefix con-. That term has been used for self-trusting folks since at least the late 16th century. Fīdere puts the trust in several other English words too, including fidelity and fiduciary.

Diffident和 confident 是词源上的反义词，分别位于self-assurance的两个极端。这两个词都可以追溯到拉丁动词fīdere，意思是“to trust「信任」”。Diffident由fīdere和前缀dis-组合而成，意思是“the absence of「缺乏」”;从15世纪开始，这个词就用来指缺乏自信的人。Confident 源于confīdere，这个词是由fīdere和（表“加强”意思）前缀con-组合而成的。至少从16世纪晚期开始，这个词就被用来形容自我信任的人。Fīdere 还用于其他几个表信任（含义）的英文单词，包括 fidelity 「忠诚；忠实」和 fiduciary「信托的；信用的」 。

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of diffident: b _ _ _ f _ l.

出处：头条号 @E语Tong